


No more Orders

by TabbyWolf



Series: Jaig Eyes (Pirate AU) [2]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: AU where Pong Krell is Rex's general, Desertion, Gen, Pirate AU (later), Pong Krell Being an Asshole, Rex loses his faith in the Republic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28630116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabbyWolf/pseuds/TabbyWolf
Summary: After losing over half his men and finding out their new General might be trying to kill them, Rex and his remaining men decide there is nothing left but defeat and death if they stay in the GAR. When the opportunity arrives, they fake their own deaths and desert.On the planet Aradan, they are forced to become pirates to survive
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex & Torrent Company
Series: Jaig Eyes (Pirate AU) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2098038
Comments: 34
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

CT-7567 was breathing heavily as he went through the auto generated report. So many numbers were missing. 

He remembered how this all had started. He and the other Captains had been waiting behind Commander Storm to meet their new Jedi, Pong Krell. He had been looking forward to serving with the Jedi, he had had so many stories about the Jedi. They were just leaders, highly skilled and committed to the peacekeeping ideals he was raised with. He couldn’t believe that was only six weeks ago. 

Commander Storm was a great man. Deep down, Rex, as his batchmate called him, had been a little jealous that he wasn’t chosen to be a marshal commander like Cody, or even a Battalion Commander like Storm. But he understood why. His blonde hair would stick out like a sore thumb, so he was demoted to Captain. That way the Jedi wouldn’t notice his mutation because only commanders would have to take their helmet off in front of the Jedi.

Commander Storm was gone now. Rex had seen him die during the mission on Felucia. Shot in the head by a B2 super battle droid. At least it was quick.

Some of the others had died on the battlefield, while the medics tried everything they could to stabilize them. It was all in vain. Coric hadn’t talked since he watched his batchmate bleed out in his arms.

Now, Rex was looking through the casualties list. Not the official one, General Krell didn’t make one, and those responsible were gone too. Or to be more precise: they hadn’t immediately returned to the camp.. But the venator had already made the Jump to hyperspace, so if they were alive they were out of range of the scanners used to register death and injuries now. Abandoned, just because General Krell couldn’t be bothered to run a proper scan.

So now he was writing them all off as casualties.

“All commanding officers, report to the bridge” his General’s voice came through the speaker.

Rex sighed, shut down his datapad and made his way to the bridge.

On his way there, he ran a hand over his head. He had shaved his head two day ago, immediately after the battle, but it was growing back a little again. Still, it shouldn’t be visible now. One of the benefits of having hair lighter than his skin.

Still, he should put on his bucket just in case. He grabbed the white bucket off his hips, and looked at the red Jaig Eyes on the dome of his helmet. They had been given to him after he saved Cody during a live fire drill. This was shortly before the final inspection, where they had found out he was blonde. The cheek swab they used to test for mutations hadn't picked up on it because the mutation only affected part of his body. Cody had the same mutation, but it was less obvious because he didn’t have blond hair on his head. Which made it sting even harder for him that Cody had become a marshal commander like they had trained for. He knew he was more than capable, but one small visual defect and he had gotten the red captain’s stripes instead of the yellow commander’s stripes. Only qualified to lead a single company.

He knew there was talk of giving every battalion their own colour coding because that was easier for the Jedi. Cody had already told him they had switched to orange. He just put the bucket on and made his way to the war room.

* * *

Krell was standing at the holotable, alone. It was as he thought, then. He was the only CO to survive. Rex approached the holotable nervously. 

“General.” he greeted Krell.

“CT-7567.” Krell said. 

There was an awkward silence for a moment, and then Rex realized he was expected to answer. 

“Yes sir,” Rex said.

“Where are the other CO’s?” Krell asked.

“Presumed dead, sir” Rex said.

“So you’re in charge of this whole battalion now,” Krell said, with something that sounded like glee in his voice.

“Yes sir,” Rex said, kind of taken aback at the implication that this was a “whole battalion”.

“Now, are you finished with the casualty count?”

“Almost, sir” Rex said “But it appears like over 60% of the men didn’t come back.”

“A 60% casualty rate is a bit… higher than expected. But it’s what they were made for.”

Rex held his tongue. He knew they were made for this, but if his brothers were dying at this pace there was little hope that he’d make it through the next battle, or even the war. He was prepared to die, but he hadn’t expected that he and his brothers would be wiped out so quickly. 

“We are still a little short on troops,” Krell continued “I had expected to send two companies to Aradan, but that won’t be possible now. But we have almost enough men, and you could lead them.”

“Sir?” Rex asked.

“Is there a problem, clone?” Krell growled.

“Yes, sir.” he said, even though he could feel the hairs on his back standing up. “As a Captain, I’m only qualified to lead one company. We have approximately 250 men left.”

“I suspect the number of men will be more within the number you feel comfortable with soon. Regardless, we are to leave for Aradan immediately. The separatists are training a new type of battle droid there, and if we destroy their prototypes, they will be unable to create this new type of droids”

“Yes sir. When will we rendezvous at Coruscant?” Rex asked. "We are low on charge packs, rations and even drinkable water, and would have to pick up more back on our new home planet. Maybe they could get some more soldiers too.”

“We won’t be making a stop at Coruscant. If we go to Aradan right away, we will arrive in 36 hours. Dismissed.” Krell said. 

Rex just nodded and left. He knew he had a report to finish, but he had lost his motivation to do his job of getting the casualty reports done. Not that they would’ve been valid reports anyway. They were all technically missing in action, since Krell had never even scanned the battlefield to confirm the deaths. 

Rex made his way to the mess instead, wanting to spend what he now knew would likely be his last day with his brothers.

He spotted a few of his brothers sitting in the corner of the mess. He approached them.

“I just… I can’t” Coric said as Rev petted his back. 

“How are you holding up?” Rex asked the medic as he sat down next to CT-4592.

“I’m sorry sir,” Coric said, quickly wiping his tears away.

“At ease,” Rex said “I’m not here as your Captain, I’m here as your brother.”

“You’re not my Captain anyway,” Rev scoffed, but then he added “No offense.”

“None taken,” Rex said. Rev was a pilot, and therefore not part of his infantry company. “I know yours is gone now. I’m sorry for your loss”

“How did you know?” Rev asked.

“I was at a meeting with all CO’s. Alone” Rex said.

"So I guess you're my Captain now" Rev sighed.

“So, when are we going to see Coruscant?” CT-4592 asked.

“Never.” Rex said, as he realized he was probably right. “We’re going to die during the next mission. Or the one after that.”

“What?” Coric asked.

“There’s no way we could win this war,” Rex said “We lost 60% of this battalion. Over 400 men, gone just like that.”

Coric sighed “I think you’re right.”

“Are you sure they’re dead?” CT-4592 asked.

“No,” Rex said “Krell never scanned the health monitoring chips. Maybe they weren’t dead. We’ll never know.”

Coric sighed. “I suppose it was all for nothing then. We’re all going to die. I didn’t become a medic for this.”

“None of us signed up for this,” CT-4592 sighed.

“It’s just weird to think we could all be gone soon,” Rev said.

Rex sighed, but then he had an idea. “We could all be gone.”

“Yeah, I know…” Coric said.

“No, we could be gone,” Rex said. “We could just leave.”

“What?” Rev asked.

“We could pretend like we’re killed in action. Krell likely won’t scan the battlefield for survivors. He didn't last time.”

“And we could wrap the metal foil from the kitchen around our wrists, they’d block the signal,” CT-4592 said.

“You and your metal,” Rev said, but he seemed to cheer up a little at the idea of deserting.

“So we’re in agreement?” Rex asked.

“What if he does scan us and there isn’t enough foil?” Coric asked.

“The same thing that would happen to us if we stay,” Rex said.

“I suppose you’re right.” Coric said.

“So we’re in agreement?” Rex asked, and his brothers nodded.

“Alright.” Rex said.

“We should tell the others,” CT-4592 said.

“No.” Rev said “They might turn us in. We should tell them when we’re on the ground and can’t turn us in.”

CT-4592 stared at Rev, but Coric nodded. “It’s better to not let them know. But make them pack all the rations they can carry.”

“I’ll pack the metal foil” CT-4592 said.

Rex nodded. “Let’s hope we can do it” he said, knowing full well that he still had his own doubts even though he knew there was no way they could win this war.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex and his men desert

The gunship trembled as it descended into Aradan’s atmosphere. Inside of it, Rex stumbled and held onto his brothers. There were 12 of them inside, even though the gunship was made for a squad of 8. He had let his brothers have the overhead straps, and CT-4592 and Coric had decided to let him hold onto them. 

“Sorry, turbulence,” Rev said over the comm. 

“It’s fine,” Rex said.

“We’ll land in a few minutes. The planet’s looking good so far,” Rev said.

“What does it look like?” CT-4592 asked. “We can’t see it from here.”

“Lot’s of green. Mostly swampy jungle, but some more open area’s. Climate seems nice,” Rev said. “It’s wet but it’s a lot less humid and muddy than Felucia. And i can see some highlands in the distance”

“That’s good,” Coric noted, more to himself than to others.

Rex nodded.

“I found a landing spot,” Rev said over the comm. “I’m putting the ship down.”

The gunship shuddered and hit the ground with a thud, and then the doors opened.

Aradan was a jungle planet, but the jungle wasn’t like most jungles. The lowlands, where they were sent to, were almost swamp-like and not particularly inviting. 

Unlike Felucia, the vegetation was green and sturdy. Most of the planet was covered in large, partially submerged plants. These plants grew numerous vines that wove together into a net of sorts, and other water plants grew between them. Some places were just solid vine, like the part where they landed. Other places had high vegetation poking through the net, including trees, that could hide them from above. There were also parts that were just plant filled pools. 

Unlike Kamino, the water was mostly clear and stagnant, though Rex knew not to underestimate the danger here. Lukewarm, stagnant water was like a perfect, agar filled Petri dish for certain dangerous bacteria. He saw Coric wince, so the medic knew it too. This was not a safe place to stay. 

“Nice scenery,” Stark, one of the other soldiers, said.

“Let’s set up camp in this part,” Rex said. “Thanks to our General skipping the rendezvous on Coruscant, we’re over a day early. The Seperatist testing force won’t arrive until tomorrow.”

“Not that it’ll matter,” Stark said.

“What do you mean?” Rev asked as he got out of the cockpit.

“Well, it’s obvious that we're all gonna die” Stark said, but another clone put his hand over his mouth.

“He didn’t mean that, sir,” the clone said.

“It’s alright,” Rex said. “I’ll address that issue once we're settled in.”

“Please don’t punish my brother, sir,” the clone who’s name Rex didn’t know begged.

“I won’t. Turning on each other will not benefit us in the slightest. What’s your name?” 

“I don’t have one,” The clone said. “My designation is CT-0739, sir.”

“Well then, CT-0739.” Rex said “I won’t let you die here before you get your name. Or after.”

“Sir, I appreciate your optimism. But we won’t survive this.”

Rex sighed, and looked at Coric, then at CT-4592 and then at Rev. They all nodded. 

“I have a plan. Gather the men. It’ll be easier to just tell them all at once.” 

Stark nodded and went off to collect the others.

“Are you nervous, sir?” CT-4592 asked.

“I’m only trying to talk 250 or so of some of the most loyal men in the galaxy into deserting, I’m fine,” Rex told him.

“I think they already know we won’t survive this fight,” Coric said.

“Yeah,” Rex said as the men gathered around. “Let’s just… hope for the best.”

Coric nodded at him and Rex climbed on top of the gunship.

All the clones gathered around, awaiting orders.

“I know you’re all expecting me to hold a speech to raise morale, about how we’ll be able to defeat the separatists and how our sacrifices will be worth it to the republic. But I want to be honest with you instead. There’s no way we can win this battle, much less this war.”

There was some muttering, but not the outrage Rex was expecting.

“We’ve lost almost two thirds of our battalion in six weeks. If we clones keep dying at this pace, we will all be wiped out within a few months.”

The murmuring stopped and they all listened to him intently.

“However, I have a plan,” Rex said. “A plan that will not win the war, but we could survive this and live in freedom.”

“I’m listening,” Stark said. 

“General Krell doesn’t check for survivors. If we turn off our comms, he will most likely just leave if we don’t respond.”

“We could cover our wrists with this metal foil,” CT-4592 said. “It’ll block the signal of the health monitoring chips.”

“We should probably check if this planet seems inhabitable,” CT-0739 said.

“I know this planet is sparsely populated but some people live here,” Rex said. “There's a few small villages. It’s pretty rural, and the planet is ruled by a Hutt.”

“A Hutt?” Coric asked.

“His name is Baratta the Hutt. A crime lord, though one of the smaller ones. But we could deal with him if we have to,” Rex said.

“We have enough rations for two months,” Rev said.

“What if we’re caught?” CT-0739 asked.

“Worst case scenario is that we’ll get executed,” CT-4592 said. “But we’ll die for sure if we engage those new droids. We can’t fight them in this swamp.”

“We should carry out the mission as usual, but pretend like they attacked us and wiped us out halfway through,” Rex said. “We’ll just be written off as casualties and be free to go”

“We can rendezvous at that patch of trees over there over there,” Rev said. “It’s big enough to hide us from anyone looking from above. When we're sure they're gone, we can walk through these marshes if we’re careful to not trip on the vines and find a better place.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Coric said.

* * *

Rex and CT-4592 sat in a tree above the swamp when the time came, a few days after they had announced their decision. They had been doing the mission as planned, waiting for the right moment. Today, they had been transmitting info on the new commando droids for a few hours, when Rex saw them coming his way. He knew they weren’t spotted, but the droids were moving around constantly as part of the test. 

Rex gestured to CT-4592 that it was time to initiate the “communication failure”. CT-4592 nodded and sent out the signal on the encrypted local comm channel, and then pulled the battery out. During the next ten minutes, his brothers would randomly cut their own comms. Rex sent out the same signals he would to report that they were under attack, and then pulled his own comm battery too. 

“Can I get the metal foil, CT-4592?”

“Yes sir,” CT-4592 said. “And my name is Besk.”

“Besk?” Rex asked as Besk put the foil around Rex’s arm.

“Yes sir,” Besk said. “Short for beskar.”

“Metal in Mando'a,” Rex noted as he returned the favor. “Good choice.” 

“Let’s get to the rendezvous point,” Besk said. 

“Good idea,” Rex said, and they started on the long, tiring walk back. The water wasn’t deep as far as he could tell, neither he or the commando droid he’d been observing had sunk deeper than their knees. But the water weed was clinging to his armor, and he had to pull himself free on multiple occasions. The vines they’d encounter on the way there would be even harder to climb over.

After a few minutes, they heard the familiar sound of the star destroyer jumping to hyperspace, much softer this time.

“He’s gone,” Rex said.

“I mean, we expected him to leave,” Besk said. “We were hoping for it.”

“I know,” Rex said “But it still hurts to get confirmation that the Jedi only think of us as expandable slaves.”

“I know, sir.”

“Stop calling me that,” Rex said. “I’m not your captain anymore.”

“Alright,” Besk said. “Brothers, then?”

“Yes, that would be nice,” Rex agreed.

* * *

When they reached the rendezvous point, most of his brothers were already there.

“What are our next steps, Captain?” CT-0739 asked.

“I’m not your Captain anymore,” Rex said. “Though I think we should make for a more habitable part of the planet. The highlands sound good, that’s where the villages are”

“Krell left the gunships,” Rev said. “We could use them to avoid the worst parts, get up there without having to climb and we could use them to set up camp. We should probably walk where we can to save on fuel though”

“Sounds good. Assemble a squad and go get them. We’ll pack up the things here so we’re ready for pickup,” Rex said, noting that they were currently surrounded by the vines. 

“Yes sir,” Rev said, before he walked off to find the other pilots and some infantry troopers and medics just in case they were needed. 

Rex decided to ignore Rev still treating him like his CO. His brothers would get used to not having a captain soon enough.

* * *

Cody was eagerly waiting in the briefing room next to general Kenobi. He tried to hide his excitement, since he knew it was unbecoming of a clone commander, but he couldn’t help it. He was going to see his brother again, and he had one hell of a story to tell Rex. Both about the upcoming relief mission to Christophsis and his head injury, which the medic said could be healed soon. Rex would probably ask about how he got that, and the answer to that was fistfighting a B2 super battledroid. Cody was pretty excited to see how the scar turned out with his brother. He would be allowed to remove the bandage today, but he had been saving it so his brother could help him.

“Relax, Cody,” Kenobi said. “The medic told you to take it easy.”

“I’m fine, sir,” Cody said “The concussion cleared up, and the medic said the wound is healing well, though it’ll probably scar.”

“I can tell you’re not _stressed_ , per se,” his General said. “What’s gotten you so excited?”

By now, Cody knew his general well enough to know that he genuinely wanted to know why Cody was excited, so he decided to tell him.

“General Krell was assigned one of my batchmates as a Captain, and I’m excited to see him again.” 

“I’ll dismiss you as soon as I can so you can go visit him,” Kenobi said.

“Thank you, sir.”

The door opened, and Krell walked in. Alone.

Cody wanted to ask where Rex was, but he had a feeling Krell wasn’t as… friendly as Kenobi. 

“General Kenobi,” Krell said. “I see your campaign went well.”

“Yes.” Kenobi said “How did your campaigns go?”

“I lost the entire battalion, but I got some intel on the new commando droids, so it was a success”

Cody froze. 

The entire battalion. Gone. 

Just like that.

And that included Rex… 

His brother. Gone… 

Cody could feel his eyes burning, but he couldn’t cry now. Not in front of his General and General Krell. 

“Cody, are you alright?” General Kenobi asked.

“Yes sir,” he said shakily “I just… my batchmate was in that battalion.” 

“I understand,” Kenobi said “You’re dismissed. Go take a break, you need it.” 

Cody nodded and started walking to the door.

“You should get used to it, clone,” Krell said. “You were made to be sacrificed for the Republic.”

“Krell, the clones aren’t expendable! They are living beings, and even if they were created for combat, their lives should not be…”

Cody stopped listening. As much as he appreciated General Kenobi standing up to them, it was too late for Rex.

Cody had lost other men before, but losing Rex hit differently. Rex’s death wasn’t his fault, nor something to learn from and be prevented in the future. It was just a loss, nothing more. 

Cody just went to find a place to hide and be miserable in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, let me know what you think :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rex and his men find the local population and find out it's not great

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter because the Cody scene from last chapter was originally part of this chapter. I changed id because it made more sense timewise. I hope you guys still like it :)

There was a strange silence as the gunships reached the highlands. They had been traveling through the swamp for a week now, walking where they could, surviving on their rations and using the water purifier from their survival kit, even though they knew the filter couldn’t be used for much longer and their rations were running out. So they were making for the highlands, which had a few villages. The main one was nearby, so they were heading there to start a new life.

Rex shared their mixed feelings about this. It was a new beginning, and also the end of everything they knew. Rex knew there was no life left for them in the GAR, those commando droids would have actually killed them if they had stayed.

They were over five hundred clicks away from the droids now, and they could see the grassy highlands and a town appearing on the horizon. 

“That’s the planet's main town, it’s where Baratta the Hutt lives. He’s this planet’s ruling figure,” Rev said. 

“We should go check the town out and set up camp nearby,” Rex said.

“Alright,” Rev said.

A little later, his men were setting up camp and Rex and Coric prepared to go into town. They had decided that two of them could pass off as identical twins, and they didn’t want to draw too much attention to them.

“What are you thinking about?” Coric asked as Rex absentmindedly inspected his blasters for the third time.

“It’s just… weird,” Rex said. “I never thought it’d turn out like this. And now, I don’t know what to expect or what we should do.”

“Me neither,” Coric said. “But we’ll figure it out.”

“You think so?” He scoffed. “What do we even do without a purpose in life?”

“Survive. Natural borns manage,” Coric shrugged. “I don’t know why we’d be different.” 

“I hope you’re right,” Rex said, as he put his blaster back in his holster and put his bucket on. “Let’s go meet our new neighbors.” 

They made the 15 minute walk to town silently, unsure about what to expect. But whatever happened, it’d be better than dying for Krell.

When they entered the town, the locals seemed skittish. The clones exchanged a look. Neither of them knew if that was normal, but they silently agreed to keep their distance. 

“That place is open,” Coric said, pointing towards a building with tables outside.

“What makes you think that?” Rex asked.

“The sign,” Coric said drily, pointing at the sign that had "open" written on it in multiple languages, including basic and Mandoa. Curiously, basic was not the first language like he'd expected.

“Right,” Rex said. “Let’s go check it out.”

Coric nodded and they went inside. 

The inside looked like a mess hall, except a lot more chaotic and there were only colored drinks. Rex didn’t really know what to make of this scene, but that feeling was shared. Everyone was staring at them. 

“I think we should leave,” Coric said, but it was too late. One of the people there shouted something in a language neither of them knew, and they were attacked immediately.

Rex and Coric were caught off guard, and weren’t trained to fight living opponents. Especially not civilians. So they didn’t even fight back when the bounty hunters started forcing them outside and towards the large building down the street they had spotted earlier.

“What do you want from me?” Rex protested as a spear was held in front of him and he was pushed back towards the building.

“I think they want us to go in there?” Coric said.

“Then let’s go check it out?” Rex asked, unsure of himself.

“Alright,” Coric said, and they went inside willingly.

They were brought into a throne room. There, they were greeted by a large, snot green, slug like creature. It smelled disgusting, but Rex and Coric still had a few spears pointed at them, so they stood up and saluted the creature, as it was clearly in charge.

The Hutt said something in its own language, and the clones shot him a confused look. Then, what they had assumed was a scrap heap spoke up.

“Greeting, clones,” The protocol droid said. “The great and wonderful Baratta the Hutt welcomes you to Aradan, but regrets to inform you that the Republic is not welcome here. You will be executed for this.”

Rex and Coric exchanged shocked glances, and then Rex spoke up. “We’ve deserted. We’re not with the Republic. Our entire company has.”

The droid translated, and the Hutt talked to a few of the beings around him.

Then, the droid spoke up again. “The great and wonderful Baratta requests that you prove your loyalty to him, by capturing the Republic ship that’s expected to refuel at the nearby space station next week and bringing it to him.”

“Prove our loyalty to him?” Coric asked.

“Loyalty to the Great and Wonderful Baratta the Hutt is a prerequisite to living on the great planet of Aradan.” 

Coric looked at Rex. “I don’t think we’ll have much of a choice, vod.” 

“You’re right,” Rex said. “Alright, we’ll do it.”

“Of course, when you’ve proven your loyalty, you’ll be offered plenty of well-paid mercenary work, living quarters for everyone willing to work for us. You’ll be fed and taken care of by our staff,” the droid continued.

“I’m not sure about this Rex,” Coric said. 

“Can we go back to the men to talk about this?” Rex asked.

“You may,” the droid translated “But if you refuse this job or end up being unsuccessful, you’ll be banished from this world.”

“Alright,” Rex said. “I’ll talk it over with the men.”

* * *

“What?” Stark asked when Rex told them the story. “So we escaped the Republic just to fight for some local crime lord?”

“Well, it was that or getting executed,” Coric said.

“Can’t we just leave?” CT-0739 asked.

“Nope.” Rev said “We don’t have a ship with a hyperdrive.” 

“The one were supposed to steal has one,” Stark said.

“But we can’t kill our brothers!” CT-0739 said.

“We won’t have to,” Rex said. “We could board the ship, blend in, and stun them.”

“And then what?” CT-0739 asked.

“We could eject them via the escape pods,” Rex said.

“We can’t let them starve in escape pods. I’d prefer to kill them over that,” Coric said. His brothers shot him nasty glares.

“What?” He asked. “I could make it quick. It’ll be better for them than starving slowly in a cramped pod.”

“We could send a distress signal, so the Republic would pick them up,” CT-0739 said.

“Assuming their General cares,” someone said.

“We’ll wait for a return signal,” Rex said. “If we don’t get one…”

“It’ll be quicker than dying in battle,” Coric said. “They won’t see it coming.”

“I suppose,” Rev said “Are you sure we can’t rescue them?” 

“Yes,” Rex said. “As much as I’d prefer to save them too, I’m not sure if they’re ready to be saved. If they haven’t had a high casualty rate yet, there’s a chance they’ll still be loyal to the Republic and turn us in. Everything would’ve been for nothing and we’d be killed. And I’m not willing to risk that.”

“What about stealing the ship for ourselves and leaving for another planet?” Stark asked

“We still don’t know how much fuel that ship has, and we have practically no knowledge of the galaxy,” Rev said.

“Plus, we’d need to find a planet that’s neither Republic or Seperatist, not too densely populated, but with an opportunity to make a living,” Rex said “We have that here. And if we leave, we can’t come back here. Baratta was very clear on that.”

“...That’s a fair point,” Coric said. “Alright, we’ll do it.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they steal the ship, they make a new friend

The gunship trembled as they left the atmosphere, and Rex could feel the men get nervous. Even though they had agreed to this, he knew his men still had some reservations about attacking their brothers. 

“Don’t worry,” he said, more to himself than to the others. “They’ll be fine.”

“And if they aren’t, it’s not really our fault,” Coric said.

“I still feel bad,” CT-0739 said.

“Me too,” Besk said. “But honestly, the planet seems nice and I don’t wanna miss out on it.”

“Same,” Coric said. 

“We should steal their hair trimmers while we’re at it,” Rex said.

“Why?” CT-0739 asked “Getting self conscious over that mutation?”

Rex sighed. “So you guys figured that out. Great.” 

“Like we care,” Besk scoffed.

“Yeah,” Coric said. “It’s not like it’s a dangerous mutation. And I think we can all agree that we can just… not care about what our creators think of us anymore.”

“You have a point,” Rex conceded. “But I still want that trimmer. I want to be able to keep my hair short.”

“Sure Vod,” Coric said. “But I’m gonna grow mine out out of spite.”

“Isn’t that kinda petty?” CT-0739 asked.

“I’m free to be petty now, am I not?” Coric said with a smirk.

“Yeah, we are,” Besk said.

Rex smiled to himself in agreement.

“I’ve talked them into letting us board their cruiser,” Rev said over the comm.

“Perfect,” Rex said as all three of their gunships made their way into the hanger. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Rex opened the door to the bridge. 

“Captain! You made it!” one of the many blue striped troopers said. Normally, Rex would have assumed he was a lieutenant, but almost half of the men on this ship were wearing blue. It gave Rex a bit of hope. He knew the GAR was switching to battalion colours, and that meant these men had at least survived their first deployment and gotten the chance to repaint their armour in accordance to the new regs. 

Plus, their armour, including their new paintjob was weathered. They had also survived their second deployment, and weren’t abandoned by their General. 

Still, there had only been 60 or so men on board. This cruiser was transporting cargo, presumably back to Kamino. So it made sense that they didn’t have more than the essential crew. Still, Rex couldn’t help but worry that maybe, these were all the men that were left. 

“I’m sorry,” Rex said to the trooper, but he still raised his blaster and shot the other man straight in the chest. He fell to the ground, stunned.

His men also did their jobs, taking out the bridge crew in a matter of seconds. 

“Take them to the pods,” Rex ordered. “I’ll send out the distress signal when you’re ready.” 

His men nodded, and started taking the unconscious Republic soldiers to the escape pods.

Rex still felt bad about what they were about to do. It had to be done, because- 

His thoughts were interrupted by his comm beeping. It was Coric.

“They’re all in the pods,” Coric said “We’re ready to launch them as soon as you give the order.”

“Alright,” Rex said “get ready. Rev, get to the controls.”

“Yes sir,” Rev said, as he sat down at the control panel.

Rex took a deep breath and walked to the communications board, and he sent out the distress signal.

“It’s done,” he said into his comm. “Eject the pods.”

“Yes sir,” Coric said, and Rex watched as all the pods disappeared from the console.

Then, the comm activated, the signal weak and static.

_”This is kggggGeneral Kgggggwalker. Are you okggggy?”_

CT-0739 activated the comm without asking. “We’re evacuating. Please come pick us up, we’re in escape pods.” 

_”Who is thikggggh?”_ the unknown General asked _”Whakggggh happening?”_

Before CT-0739 could answer, Rex set his blaster to kill and shot the comm system.

“Let’s just leave,” Rex said, and Rev turned the lever, making the jump to hyperspace. After the short jump, they'd wipe the on board computers and take the ship back to shake off the Republic.

Rex let out a sigh.

“I guess that means their general will pick them up,” CT-0739 said. 

“Yes,” Rex said “Thank you.” 

Rex flopped down on one of the chairs on the bridge.

“So… I guess we’ll get to stay on Aradan now,” Rex said.

“I guess so,” CT-0739 said. “I’ll work on clearing the cruiser of any Republic traces.”

“Sure,” Rex said “Maybe we should focus on getting rid of your number too.”

“I don’t know. I guess I do, but I don’t know what to name myself yet.”

“You should get something that matches up with your goals. My name means “king” in an ancient language. Though I was encouraged to pick a name by the longnecks.”

“You were?” CT-0739 asked as he kept going through data on the console.

“Yeah, all Captains were,” Rex lied. “So the Jedi wouldn’t have to memorize our numbers.”

“I thought that was only for the Commanders,” CT-0739 said.

“No, Captains too. Just in case they had to refer to us. But they didn’t make as big of a deal out of our names.”

“Well, I always wanted to do data analysis and slicing. But I didn’t pass the technical exam. I was good with using grep, but I just wasn’t fast enough under stress.”

“But you’re doing fine now, I think. I have no clue what you’re doing. What’s grep?” Rex asked

“A program that lets me search for patterns,” CT-0739 said. “I honestly really like it, but most of the other slicers hated it because the patterns can become very complicated.”

“Yeah, it’s not for me either. But maybe Grep would be a suitable name.”

“I’m not sure yet,” CT-0739 said. “What if I change my mind later?” 

“Then you can change your name. One of my batchmates changed his name too,” Rex said.

“Alright. Grep it is,” Grep smiled.

“It suits you,” Rex said. 

Grep nodded, and went back to work on the console. However, his work was interrupted by an incoming, internal call.

“Captain?” Coric’s voice came over the comm “We have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“There’s still a clone in the brig.”

“I’ll be right there,” Rex said.

* * *

Rex walked into the brig, and Coric and a few others were standing around one cell. 

“Rex!” Coric said, before walking over.

“What's up?” Rex asked.

“We’re trying to figure out what he’s done, but we can’t let him know that we’re deserters.” Coric whispered “He might turn us in. And we can’t dump him out now, we’re out of escape pods. But we can’t take him to Aradan either.”

Rex sighed. “Let me talk to him. Maybe we can figure out what our options are if I talk to him. Or at least figure out if he’s a threat.”

Coric nodded, and stepped aside so Rex could make his way to the cell. His men parted, allowing Rex to stand directly in front of the ray shields. The clone was sitting in the corner, his arms angrily crossed over his knees.

“What do you want?” The clone snarled at him.

“Nothing,” Rex said “I just wanted to talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you Republic dogs.”

Rex exchanged glances with both Coric and the clone on his other side.

“Republic dogs?” He asked “What do you mean by that?”

The clone stood up, and stared Rex into his eyes. “You know. Republic dogs. Dumb, obedient puppets who won’t even think for themselves.”

“You don’t sound too fond of the Republic.”

“Well, I deserted for a reason,” he scoffed “Why do you think I’m in the brig.”

“...Oh” Rex said “We’re deserters too. We were stealing this ship actually. Do you want to come with us?”

“You’re messing with me.”

“I’m not.”

“Prove it.”

Rex just pressed the button to deactivate the ray shield. “You’re free.” 

The clone stared at him, then at the others and then he relaxed.

“You’re serious,” he said. “I just… hadn’t expected it. I’m Sergeant Slick by the way.”

“Captain Rex. Though I don’t use my rank anymore” he said, extending his hand.

“He’s still our leader,” one of the clones said. “Chain of command or not, we’ll stick with our brothers.”

Slick nodded. “I’m glad to be among more understanding brothers.” 

“We’re glad to have a new member of our group. We should head back to the planet we live on now, Aradan”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Slick said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they arrive back on Aradan, but find out the planet isn't as ideal as they thought

As they landed their new freighter in Aradan’s small spaceport and were greeted by Baratta the Hutt’s servants, before being quickly taken back inside the throne room while his servants looked over the new ship.

“Who are we going to see?” Slick asked.

“Baratta the Hutt. He’s a local crime lord, but we have to work for him if we want to make ends meet here,” Rex told him. 

“I understand,” Slick said “Are we getting paid?”

“I don’t know. This first mission was just to prove ourselves, and we came back with a -1 casualty rate so I think that worked out.”

“Yeah, let’s make sure we get paid next time though,” Slick said.

“Let’s not be too pushy,” Coric said. “We could still lose our right to live here.”

“Right,” Slick said “But let’s make sure we don’t end up working for them for nothing. That’d just be another master to serve.”

“Good point,” Rex said. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

They entered the throne room, and the Hutt welcomed them in his language. “Welcome back, the great and wonderful Baratta the Hutt acknowledges that your mission was a success,” The shoddy protocol droid translated.

“Yes, Sir,” Rex said, deciding to go for the way of addressing he was used to.

“The great and wonderful Baratta the Hutt has a new mission for you, and he has graciously decided to grant your entire company residence on this planet in exchange for your services.”

“Thank you, Lord Baratta,” Rex said.

“What about payment?” Slick asked, and the room started murmuring

The Hutt said something, and the droid translated again. “The great and wonderful Baratta the Hutt will repay you generously after the next assignment. In the meantime, you will be shown towards the new barracks where you will be housed and fed until the next assignment.” 

“Thank you, Sir.” Rex said “What will the next assignment be?”

“You will be breaking up a gladiator ring organized by a rival of the great and wonderful Baratta the Hutt, Gratta the Hutt ” the bucket of bolts said, “But for now, you should get your men settled in.”

“Are we basically going to be a pirate gang working for you?” Slick asked, a bit too aggressive for Rex’s taste.

The Hutt started laughing, and said something. “Yes, your subordinate has the right idea,” the droid translated. “With your proficiency and his wits, we will be able to create a great empire. Now, follow Della to your new accommodations.”

A small, skinny looking green twi'lek dressed in a plain workers outfit that was a little too big for her stepped forward. Rex stared at her, and she shrunk under his gaze, but he had never seen anyone look so thin that he could see the outlines of her bones.

The girl bowed, “It’s an honor to meet you, sir,” she said, in a thick Ryl accent. “Would you please follow me?”

Rex nodded politely, and he and his men followed her. 

“This is the main square,” Della said. “The space port where you landed also hosts our only long range communicator of the whole planet, and we have a monitoring system in place. Any suspicious communications will lead to… consequences.” 

“What do you mean?” Rex asked

“The great and wonderful Baratta the Hutt will know if you talk badly of him,” she said ominously.

Rex and Coric exchanged looks, but decided not to say anything.

“So what is our compensation?” Slick asked.

“I don’t know for sure,” Della said “Most of us don’t get paid at all. Only some of the best warriors get paid, and I’m housekeeping.” 

“That sounds like slavery” Slick said, and Della tensed up. 

“It is,” she said softly. “But it’s the best you’ll get here.”

“I told you we should’ve just left,” Grep said. “We’re stuck on a planet of slavers now.”

“Or we could… You know,” Stark said.

“Sssh” Rex said

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” Della said. “Nor would most of the other slaves. But the ones that can fight are paid well, and Baratta treats them well. They might fight for him if it came to it.” 

“We will be able to take them, and free you,” Rex said. “I promise.” 

“I appreciate your determination,” she said. “But why should I trust you to not just take the much better deal you’re being offered?”

“You see this symbol on my helmet?” Rex said “Those are jaig eyes. They’re awarded for showing exceptional bravery while defending your unit. And they weren’t given lightly back on Kamino. I won’t let you down, I promise.”

“Alright,” Della said. “But you should probably lay low at first. He will try to gain your loyalty first, and you’ll probably stand a better chance if you stay here for a while first.

“Okay, so what do you suggest we do?” 

“Go on the next mission. Gain his trust. Try to free the other Hutt’s slaves from the gladiator ring and get them in on the plan if you can. And then you can join with them and take down Baratta.”

“Hold on, who says we can trust her to not turn us in?” Stark asked.

“Do I look like I’m one of the favourites?” she asked.

“No.” Rex said “Do they even feed you?”

“Yes, but the stronger slaves usually steal my food.” 

“Here,” Rex said, handing her his rations. “You need these more than I do.” 

Della looked at him, and then at the ration bar. She took it from him and stared him down as she started eating it.

“Thank you” she said, “Be careful on the next mission, It sounds dangerous.” 

“Thanks for the advice,” Rex said.

“Are you sure it was a good idea to discuss this in the main square though?” Coric asked.

“Yeah, I’m the only one who speaks basic,” Della said. “That’s why I was assigned this job. We should probably continue the tour though.”

“Yes,” Rex said “Are we going to have to learn…”

“Huttese? If you plan to keep working for him, yes,” Della said. “I don’t think the majority of the slaves that’ll side with you would mind to learn basic after you take over. It’s a useful language to speak.”

“We don’t want to take over,” Rex said.

“Oh... “ Della said. “I misunderstood then. My apologies.”

“We want to take over,” Stark said “But we don’t want to be slavers. You’ll all be free.”

“But then society will fall apart,” Della said. 

“A society that can’t work without slavery doesn’t deserve to exist anyway” Rex said “We only want people to work with us out of free will. Otherwise we’ll return them to their families.”

“I hope you’ll succeed then.,” Della said. “Anyway, those are the dormitories and the mess is over there...”

* * *

Later that night, as they all laid in their bunks, in the dorms Rex couldn’t sleep. He was still milling over both his decision to desert and taking the job from the Hutt. He despised this place already, and the slaves that shared this dorm with him had passed out into an uneasy sleep right away. They were tired after a long day of meaningless work, with no time for their own personal goals. Just one day in this town was already pretty depressing, and he had only been here for one day. Even the GAR wasn’t as depressing.

“Rex, are you still awake?” Coric asked

“Yeah. Can’t sleep either?”

“No, this is terrible. Fighting for the Republic would be better than this. At least the Republic didn’t have slaves.”

“They had us,” Rex said, and Coric sighed.

“Still, we were treated better than this!”

“You gotta stay positive, Vod.” Rex said.

“What is there to be positive about?” Coric asked.

“Now that we’ve deserted, we can help these people. The Republic isn’t helping them, that’s obvious. But we can. And we can look after ourselves as well.”

“I suppose you’re right, sir,” Coric sighed. “This is why you’re our Captain.”

“I thought I said I didn’t want to be your leader anymore,” Rex said. “You don’t have to follow my orders anymore.”

“I know,” Coric said. “But I want to. We all do. We wanna stay together, and you’re a great leader. Please, let us follow you.”

Rex sighed, and considered it for a few moments. “Alright,” he said. “If you guys want me to lead, I will.”

“Thank you,” Coric said, and then he yawned. “I think we should get some sleep.” 

“Yeah, tomorrow is a big day. We should rest. Goodnight.” Rex said. He listened to his brothers breathing for a few minutes before he too fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this doesn't really feel like an ending. The story will continue in the next fic


End file.
